Amazon promises to fix Comixology after making the service nearly unusable

Nearly four months after integrating Comixology into its other services, Amazon acknowledged the platform has been left worse off. “We understand that the current experience needs improvements, and want you to know that we’re working hard to get those …

‘Diablo Immortal’ has reportedly earned $24 million since release

Two weeks after release, Blizzard’s Diablo Immortal has earned approximately $24 million for the troubled studio, according to Appmagic. In an estimate it shared with GameDev Reports, the analytics firm said the free-to-play game was downloaded almost …

Google tries to send Apple an RCS message with Drake’s ‘Texts Go Green’

Since the start of the year, Google has tried to publicly pressure Apple into adopting the GSMA’s RCS messaging protocol. The search giant’s campaign has involved everything from not-so-subtle jabs at I/O 2022 to long Twitter threads from the head of Android. Now the feud has expanded to include Drake.

In a tweet spotted by 9to5Google, the Android Twitter account shared an “unofficial lyric explainer video” for “Texts Go Green,” the third song from the rapper’s latest album. The song features Drake singing about a toxic relationship. Both the title and chorus of “Texts Go Green” refer to what happens when an iPhone user blocks someone from contacting them through iMessage. The service defaults to SMS and the blacklisted individual will lose all the benefits of iMessage, including read receipts if the other person had them enabled previously.

Calling the song “a real banger,” Google says the “phenomenon” of green text bubbles is “pretty rough” for both non-iPhone users and anyone who gets blocked. “If only some super talented engineering team at Apple would fix this,” the company says in the video. “Because this is a problem only Apple can fix. They just have to adopt RCS, actually.”

The irony of Google’s video is that doesn’t accurately explain the meaning of “Texts Go Green.” In the context of the song, iMessage’s incompatibility with RCS is a comfort for Drake. “Texts go green, it hits a little different, don’t it?” he sings. “Know you miss the days when I was grippin’ on it / Know you’re in a house tonight just thinkin’ on it / I moved on so long ago.”

But, hey, whatever it takes for Apple to adopt RCS, right?

Apple Store employees in Maryland vote to unionize

Apple Store employees at the company’s Towson Town Center location in Maryland have voted to unionize. According to the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees, the group that led the unionization effort, workers voted “overwhelming” in favor of joining the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). With the historic vote, the store is now on track to become the first unionized Apple retail location in the US.

Towson Town Center became the first Apple Store in the US to hold a union election after workers at another retail location in Atlanta withdrew their petition to hold a union vote last month. While Apple hasn’t explicitly come out against its frontline workers organizing, the company has been broadly accused of employing union-busting tactics. It reportedly hired the same anti-union law firm employed by Starbucks and subjected workers to so-called “captive audience meetings.” In Georgia, organizers called off a union vote at the company’s Cumberland Mall location over intimidation claims. Ahead of today’s vote, AppleCore said it was organizing out of a “deep love of our role as workers within the company and out of care for the company itself.”

Apple declined to comment. 

“I applaud the courage displayed by CORE members at the Apple store in Towson for achieving this historic victory,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. in a statement following the vote. “They made a huge sacrifice for thousands of Apple employees across the nation who had all eyes on this election. I ask Apple CEO Tim Cook to respect the election results and fast-track a first contract for the dedicated IAM CORE Apple employees in Towson. This victory shows the growing demand for unions at Apple stores and different industries across our nation.”

In the immediate future, today’s vote is likely to bolster ongoing unionization efforts at two Apple Stores in New York and Kentucky, but if recent history shows anything, it’s that a domino effect isn’t guaranteed. After the Amazon Labor Union led workers at Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island to a historic labor win in April, the group failed to achieve the same result one month later a facility across the street. 

Advocacy group asks Meta to add Facebook relationship options for non-monogamists

An advocacy group is calling on Meta to allow Facebook users to list more than one romantic partner in their profiles. In a letter the Organization for Polyamory and Ethical Non-monogamy (OPEN) sent to the social media giant on Thursday, it said the cu…

Someone made a tombstone to mark Internet Explorer’s end-of-support date

When Microsoft effectively discontinued support for Internet Explorer earlier this week, one person decided to mark the occasion with a bit of humor. Per Reuters, software Jung Ki-young spent 430,000 won (about $330) to design and order a headstone for…

NASA begins fourth Artemis 1 rocket ‘wet dress rehearsal’ fueling test today

With repairs complete and the rocket in place at its designated launch pad, NASA is ready to once again attempt a critical fueling test of its next-generation Space Launch System. Per Space.com, the Artemis 1 “wet dress rehearsal” will begin at 5PM ET today with a call to stations for ground personnel at Kennedy Space Center.

Over the next 48 hours, technicians will attempt loading the rocket’s first and second stages with cryogenic fuel. Provided there aren’t major setbacks, they will then try to load it with propellant starting Monday morning. If the test is successful, the Artemis 1 mission could get underway as early as July 26th.

For the oft-delayed SLS, this is its second trip to historic Launch Pad 39B. Following an initial attempt at the wet dress rehearsal on April 1st, NASA tried to complete a modified version of the fueling test on April 14th, but that was cut short after the agency discovered a hydrogen leak in the rocket’s mobile launch tower. NASA eventually decided to move the SLS back to the Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs and to give a critical nitrogen supplier time to complete capacity upgrades.

Once the wet dress rehearsal is complete, NASA can finally move forward with Artemis 1. The mission will send an unmanned Orion capsule on a flight around the Moon. The next two Artemis missions would feature human astronauts, with an eye toward a lunar landing sometime in 2025 or 2026.

The Engadget guide to the best midrange smartphones

A great smartphone doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Years of commoditization have brought features once exclusive to high-end devices – including big batteries, multi-camera arrays and high refresh rate displays – down to their more affordable siblings….

Discord’s AutoMod can automatically detect and block offensive words for servers

Discord is giving admins and moderators a new tool to keep their servers safe. On Thursday, the company introduced AutoMod, a feature that can automatically detect and block harmful messages before they’re posted. Accessible through Discord’s “Server Settings” menu, the tool allows admins and moderators to create a list of words and phrases they want Discord to look for, along with a set of repercussions for those who use them.

For instance, you can configure AutoMod to prevent a user from sending messages or joining voice channels after triggering the bot’s safeguards. It’s also possible to set up the tool to automatically notify you when someone writes something offensive. Discord has put together three starting lists that cover “certain categories of not-nice words or phrases.” Moderators can add up to three additional custom filter lists to suit the needs of their users. At launch, AutoMod is only available to Community servers.

Alongside AutoMod, Discord is introducing two new resources to help admins. The first is a dedicated hub with articles penned by experienced community builders. “Whether you’re just getting started or need help onboarding the newest round of moderators to the team, the Community Resources page is here to help your team thrive at any stage of your journey,” Discord says of the hub.

The other new resource is a dedicated admin community server run by Discord staff. Here, the company says moderators can gather to chat and learn from one another. Discord also plans to run educational events and share news through the space.

Discord also announced today it’s expanding the availability of Premium Memberships, a monetization tool the company debuted at the end of 2021, to more US servers this summer. With the expansion, the company is also adding new features to the suite, including an updated analytics dashboard and the option to offer free trials to people.

Samsung merges Pay and Pass into a single Wallet app

Samsung is making it easier to store your credit card information and other digital data on your phone. On Wednesday, the company announced the merging of its Pay and Pass apps into a single Wallet platform. With the change, you won’t have to use two d…